Full Text | Police High Command rejects allegations of woman cop in viral video

The Police High Command has released a statement rejecting damning allegations made by a woman police sergeant in a video that has gone viral on social media.

In the video, Detective Sergeant Tamica Taylor claimed that she was being victimised and denied promotion because she blew the whistle on senior cops in the force dating back to 2011.

She said after bringing the matter to the attention of Police Commissioner Major General Anthony Anderson, she was further victimised.

See full statement below:

A video on social media that has been circulating widely has come to the attention of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

In this video, Woman Detective Sergeant Tamica Taylor, a current member of the JCF, makes allegations concerning a number of past and currently serving senior officers as being part of a conspiracy against her dating back to 2011.

Last Thursday, January 26, 2022, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions made a ruling in which they recommended that detective sergeant Tamica Taylor be charged under the Dangerous Drugs Act. The member will have an opportunity to defend any prospective charges and - as such – we will not speak publicly on those matters.

However, the JCF finds it necessary to respond to claims made by the member in her video which has also have become the subject of mainstream media reporting.

The JCF High Command has taken note of both the nature and timing of these allegations and treats them with the seriousness with which they deserve.

In her video, the member claims that she met with Police Commissioner, Major General Antony Anderson on January 15, 2020 and 'blew the whistle' on several high-ranking members of the Constabulary.

However, she claims that instead of having the matter properly investigated, she was further victimised.

This is patently false.

The JCF can confirm that a meeting was held at the Commissioner's Office on the 15th January 2020.

Present were: Commissioner Anderson, detective sergeant Tamica Taylor, the Attorney-at-Law for detective sergeant Tamica Taylor, the Director of the Legal Affairs Division of the JCF and the Superintendent in charge of Personnel from the Administration Branch of the JCF.

The meeting was requested by the member and convened to address her displeasure with a personal matter of her promotion.

She felt that she had been denied a promotion for unfair reasons and desired an opportunity to ventilate those matters.

In the meeting, she made allegations of what she viewed was victimisation in the promotion process by past and present senior officers; some of whom were no longer in the force.

These allegations of victimisation were given by her as background information to support her claim that she was being unfairly denied a promotion.

She gave her personal view of why she thought she had not been promoted which included the fact that she, along with other members, had initiated a judicial review claim against former Police Commissioner Carl Williams on the very issue of promotion, and that she had sent a voice note in which she complained about the actions of a senior officer in the denial of her promotion.

It should be made clear that the context of the meeting pertained only to detective sergeant Tamica Taylor's personal desire for promotion as opposed to any alleged 'whistling blowing' under the Protected Disclosures Act.

A review was undertaken of detective sergeant Tamica Taylor's matter which confirmed that certain concerns were raised during the vetting process for promotion.

As such and as is customary when dealing with concerns of this nature, Commissioner Anderson referred her matter to the Ethics Committee of the JCF so that the concerns could be ventilated.

Detective sergeant Tamica Taylor subsequently attended the Ethics Committee where she was engaged on the issues.

However, subsequent to her participation at the Ethics Committee, certain intelligence reports arose which have been ultimately born out in the aforementioned ruling made by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The JCF would like to assure the public that there are rigorous vetting requirements involved in the promotional process within the Constabulary. If there are concerns identified, same cannot be ignored but must undergo a process which allows for the ventilation and ultimate resolution of same before promotion can materialise.

The JCF High Command stands by the integrity and transparency of the vetting process as well as its commitment to the transformation of the JCF into a modern Constabulary that Jamaica can be proud of.

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.